SIMON Eastwood believes back-to-back home wins have helped Oxford United’s players move on from their pre-Christmas nightmare against Wigan Athletic.

Scars from the 7-0 defeat at the Kassam Stadium had the potential to linger, but Pep Clotet’s side have collected six points in front of their own fans in the two games since.

Eastwood was outstanding in the 1-0 win over Blackpool, which came five days after the 3-1 victory over MK Dons.

The goalkeeper said: “It was a big month for us because when you lose 7-0 at home everyone’s asking questions about players, even the staff.

“To bounce back and get six points from these two games, having been a bit unlucky (to lose 3-2) at Bradford is a real positive for us.

“We can start looking up rather than behind us now.”

The 28-year-old produced one of his best displays of the season, thwarting Gary Bowyer, the Blackpool boss who managed Eastwood at Blackburn Rovers.

He said: “We have come across a goalkeeper that was in unbelievable form who I know personally, so it didn’t surprise me that he made those saves.”

In Eastwood’s eyes, it made amends for the reverse fixture – a 3-1 defeat where all the goals came via shots from outside the penalty area.

He said: “It’s good because I owed him (Bowyer) one for the game at Blackpool.

“It was too easy for them there – we weren’t great – so to get them back was good.

“I knew I was going to be busy because they’re a team that shoot from anywhere.

“Sometimes you get teams that don’t shoot as much as they should, but if you hit the target, it’s a lot harder than you think.”